Attachment for harvesters.



PATENTED APR. 3o, 1907.

* A. G. BESTGEN. ATTACHMENT POB. HARVESTERS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 8. 1906.

@warmup PATENTED APR. 30, 1907.

A. G. BESTGEN.

ATTACHMENT FOR HARVESTERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

AUGUST G. BESTGEN, OF TIPTON, MISSOURI. i

ATTACHMENT FOR HARVESTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907l Application filed June 8,1906. Serial No.320807.

To (L7/Z lull/0172, 11m/y con/carla:

Be it known that I, AUGUST G. Bns'reEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tipton, in the county of Moniteau, State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments forI'Iarvesters g and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make an d y use thesame.

This invention relates to attachments for harvesters and has for itsobject to provide a mechanism which will draw the grain toward thecutting element of the harvester and deposit it, after it is cut, uponthe table thereof. To attain this result, the invention contemplates theuse of draw-combs and has for its further object to provide means forshielding the said combs during their outward movement.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism whichwill gather the grain which is down and lying in the direction of thetravel of the harvester.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portionof a harvester showing my invention applied thereto, the Fig. 2 is adetail transversesectional view through one of the draw-combs. Fig. 3 isa detail plan view of one of the draw-combs showing in dotted lines, theposition of the combs during their forward movement. Fig. 4 is a detailvertical longitudinal sectional view through the comb, and, Fig. 5 is asimilar view showing a slightly modified form of comb. Fig. 6 is a topplan view of a modified form of draw-comb, showing in dotted lines theposition of the parts during the forward movement of the comb.` Fig. 7is a perspective view of the rear portion of one of the draw-combs.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 5 denotes theplatform of a harvester which includes 'the usual cutting apparatus 6and the usual opstanding end frames 7.

Mounted for rocking movement in the end frames 7 of the machine andextending longitudinally of the platform 5 are arched draw-combsupporting frames S and 9 which serve to support the combs at theirfront and rear ends respectively and in a manner to be presentlydescribed. The comb supporting frame S is located forwardly of the frame9 and includes a connecting portion and crank end portions l0 whichextend at right angles 'to the connecting portion of the frame and areournaled in their respective ends of the frames 7. One of the crank endportions of the combs supporting-frame S is lprovided with a crank-arm11 extending upwardly at right angles with respect to the related endportion l() of which it is an extension and connecting this crank armwith a lever 12, which is pivoted upon the adjacent end frame 7 is aconnecting rod 125, the said lever being arranged for co-operation witha segmental rack 14 carried by the said end frame. It `will beunderstood from the foregoing, that by rocking the lever 13, thedraw-comb supporting frame will be correspondingly rocked, itsconnecting portion being raised and lowered by this operation to raiseor lower the forward ends of the draw-combs to enable the combs to pickup the down stalks.

The draw-comb supporting frame f) is similar in construction to theframe S, the difference between the two frames being that in thecrank-arm 11 is omitted in the 'frame 9 and this frame serves merely asa support for the rear end. of the draw-comb although it, like the frameS, is mounted for rocking movement to accommodate itself to movement ofthe draw-comb.

Each of the draw-combs comprises a palr of spaced parallel guide rods1.5 which are secured at their 'forward ends to a shoe 16 and aresupported at their rear ends by means o'l a bracket 17 which dependsfrom the arched frame 9 and is provided with downwardly divergingsupporting members 1S to which the rear end of the guide rods 15 areconnected, the bifurcations being not only for the purpose of supportingthe rear ends nof guide-rods 15 in spaced relation, but also ior thepassage of the connecting rod from the drive-shaft to the combs, as willbe presently explained. The forward ends of the guiderods and the shoe16 are supported by means of a brace-rod 19 which is secured at its rearend to the correspomling bracket 17 and extends forwardly and thencedowmvardly as at 20, and is connected with the said shoe 16, the saidrod being supported adjacent its downwardly bent portion 2O by means ofa link which is pivoted at its lower end to a bracket ear 22 secured tothe said rod adjacent the said downturned portion and which depends fromthe connecting portion of the comb-supporting frame S.

The combs each comprise a plate 23 which IOO IIO

IOy

vIn order to protect the combs during their forward movement to keepthem from shoving the grain away from the cutting apparaytus and touncover them during their rearward movement, to allow them to gather thegrain toward the said apparatus, I provide a suitable shield mechanism,one embodiment of which is shown in the first four figures of thedrawings. In these figures, the shield mechanism for each comb comprisesa pair of plates 26 which extend longitudinally of the draw-combs andwhich are disposed for sliding movement thereupon, the said plates beingof suflcient width to entirely cover the teeth of the combs when thesaid plates are at the limit of their movement from the longitudinalmiddle of the draw-combs. Slidably disposed upon the upper face of eachdrawcomb and guided in its movement thereon by means of bearing brackets27 is a rod 27 Pivoted upon the draw-combs, as at 28 are bell cranklevers 29 which are connected as at 30 at the end of one of their armswith the adjacent plates 26, it being understood that the saidbell-crank levers are pivoted upon opposite sides of the rod 27 and inspaced relation to the comb. The meeting ends of the other arms of thebell-crank levers are pivoted as at 3l to the respective rod 27. It willbe readily understood from the foregoing that the initial movement ofthe rod 27 will serve to lock the bell-crank levers which have one oftheir arms pivoted thereto and that further movement of the rods willserve to reciprocate their respective draw-combs.

In order that the plates 26 will not interfere with the pivot bolts 28for the bell-crank levers 29, I form, in each of the said plates of eachpair and in the opposing edges thereof, recesses 32 in which the pivotsof the said bell crank levers are received when the plates are movedtoward each other.

In order that the combs and shields may be properly operated, I providea multiple crank-shaft 33 which is j ournaled at its ends in the endframes of the machine and extending from the cranks of the crank-shaftto the rear ends of :the rods 27 are connecting rods 34 which serve tocommunicate motion from the crank-shaft to the draw-combs and theirshield mechanisms.

It will be noted from the foregoing that during their forward movement,the teeth of the draw-comb will be entirely covered by the shieldplates, but that during their rearward movement, the said teeth will beuncovered and will serve to draw the grain to-t ward the cuttingapparatus of the machine, it being understood, as previously stated,that the draw-combs may be tilted Vat their forward ends to pick up thedown grain.

In the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, plates 35 areslidably disposed upon the draw-comb plates and are held thereon andproperly guided by means of pins 36 which project upwardly from the saiddraw-combs and extend through slots 37 formed in the said plates, thesaid slots being extended in planes which converge forwardly. Theforward ends of the plates are turned laterally as at 38 so that oneplate will overlie the other and are thence directed forwardly inconverging planes as at 39, the said forwardly directed` portions 39being provided upon their outer edges with teeth 40, it being understoodthat the foremost ones of the draw-comb teeth are omitted in thisinstance and that their function is performed by the teeth abovementioned. Links 4l are pivoted in overlapped position to the forwardend of each connecting rod and have their opposite ends pivotallyconnected with the adjacent ends of arms 42 which are pivoted as at 43to the draw-comb plates in overlapped position and are pivotallyconnected at their extreme forward ends with the plates 38 at theirpoint of lateral direction.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the initialmovement of the rod 27 in a forward direction caused by the connectionof the crank-shaft, will cause the links above described, to spread andwill consequently move the rear portions of the plates 38 outwardly fromeach other and their forwardly directed portions inwardly toward eachother' in each instance, preventing the comb teeth from performing theirfunctions and that when the said rod 27 is moved rearwardly, the rearportions of the plate 38 will be moved inwardly toward each other byreason of the slots formed therein and by reason of the links just de-.scribed, the forwardly directed portions of the plates will be movedoutwardly from each other to allow their teeth to form the function ofdrawing the grain to the cutting ap paratus.

It is to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exactdetails of construction shown and described, for obvious modiiicationswill occur to a person skilled in the art.

I/Vhat is claimed is:

1. The combination with a platform of a harvester, of draw-combs mountedfor reciprocatory movement thereon, and shields slidably mounted uponsaid draw-combs and arranged to cover the same during their forwardmovement.

2. The combination With a platform of a ICO ISO

harvester, of draw-combs mounted for reciproeatory movement thereon, endshields erranged to cover said combs during their forward movement.

3. The combination with the platform of e harvester, of draw-combsmounted for reciproeetory movement thereon, shields slidztbly mountedupon said drew-Combs, e shaft mounted upon said platform, rodsconnecting seid shaft and seid draw-combs whereby the latter may bereeiproeeted, and connections between said rod and seid shields wherebythe latter may be moved to cover the said draw-combs during theirforward movement..

4. The combination with the platform of e harvester, of drew combsmounted upon seid platform and arranged for reoiproezttory movementthereon, :t crank-shaft mounted upon seid plattform, rods connectingseid crank-shaft end seid draw-combs, l ellerztnk levers pivotellymounted upon said drew-combs, and having one of eeeh ol" their armsconnected to said rods, and shields slidebly mounted upon seiddrew-combs end connected to the other of the arms of each of seidhell-crank levers.

In testimony whereof, I ellix my signature, in presence el twowitnesses.

AUGUST G. BESTGEN.

Vitnesses:

LoUrs L. LU'rZ, ANDREW SCHMIDT.

